Neutral armies

first thing to do is you should take gib and look like you are going to liberate Nth Af and egypt then turn your forces to spain and then get germans to recall units from Britain who should look to place units in ontario early in the game if sealion is imminent so when the Germans get forced to tak units back from UK to defend france the UK can liberate itself and Germany is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If germany deal with the Americans the Brits are back int he war. If they retake Uk the Americans are attacking france and getting four extra inf to deal with not to mention french buying power. The Germans will be stuck and need Italian help which will be shucking across from Africa if the US has a mnr in Spain they can spend 9 ipc for 3 inf or 1 hit every turn resulting in a killer force that the Euro Axis can’t deal with and with The Mnr in spain you can then send some troops from the initial landing spot to liberate Nth Af and egypt allowing you to then put the pressure on Turkey which most likely has been used to get the 8 inf because the Germans need all forces to be around France and going to turkey would be a waste of a move as then they have to get the 8 inf to follow them back. The Brits being recently liberated should build mnr in egypt and use it to start attacking from the east relieving the soviets and allowing them to help put pressure on the germans and with three majors attacking them they will probably turtle allowing Italy to fall and you will end up with 4 allies(Because France will be liberated attacking Germany) The attacks will go USSR-UK-US-France so the Germans can’t rebuild after one round of combat. If it gets to this the German will surrender and the allies win. If playing a newbie he should only hold out for a couple of turns before the pressure starts. Especially since you will put a major in Rom or Nrwy

Arminius Germanicus is correct.  Pro-Allies neutral is still neutral.

@squirrelfox:

Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the Soviet battleship leaving the Baltic Sea.  Makes it easier to ferry troops to Leningrad when I don’t have to take out that annoying Red Fleet, and I can take it out when I spread out into the Atlantic.  So it COULD potentially be useful to Germany to let the neutral Soviet fleet out of the Baltic.  I’d have to see it in action first before passing judgment, though.  Could be interesting… I may try it, see what happens.

I think that letting the Soviet BB hook up with the Royal Navy would be bad news for Germany. Better, as the Offspring song exhorts, to “keep 'em separated”.

Per Djensen’s preview part 3:

Before a power that starts the game “neutral,” like the United States and the Soviet Union, there are a few special rules.

*** Cannot move into or fly over neutral territories.**
    * Cannot move into territories controlled by any other power.
    * May not use aircraft carriers, transports, naval bases, nor air bases that belong to another power
    * Does not block naval movements of other powers and may occupy the same sea zones as another power. USA can be in the same sea zone as UK or even Germany while not at war./li>
    * Cannot attack a territory of a power with which it is not at war.
    * If a power attacks a sea zone that contains both units from a power with which it is at war and from a power with which it is not at war, the units not at war to not participate in the battle and war will not result.
    * Declarations of war must happen at the beginning of the combat move phase before any combat movements are made.

That’s clear enough.  :-)

There’s a few members that have played global at Gencon (maybe even got E40 as a prize), or have been lucky enough to get E40 early. Has anyone invaded the strict neutrals yet? There is a lot of speculation, but I wondered if anyone actually did it. I doubt anyone would try it in the first couple of games they played (testing the waters), but might push the envelope once they got a few games under their belt. So how about it?

@Krupp:

Any word on whether there will be more than just infantry that pop up on these neutrals when they  are activated?

I think just infantry, what were you hoping for?

It seems to me WOTC didn’t take into account a free India, a possible repeat of the Bolshevik Revolution in WW1 or NAFTA.  Why are you just limited to having the same countries throughout the game?  Where’s the army for the Vatican?  Why is Somalia worth 1 IPC as opposed to being a unique “-3” territory?  Such a waste of $100, where do I get my refund?

I think the countries that will be pro axis/pro allies neutrals will be countries that are typically active in AA games (belonging to one side or the other), but have not officially joined the war by the games start date (around June 10th 1940). If they are leaning to your side you don’t have to invade (fight) you just move units in and take ownership (probably in the combat phase).

If they are hostile to your side you will have to attack the units printed on the map. New countries that have been added to AA40 expansion of say The Middle East or Africa that had not yet joined the war should also follow this format.

There could be something like move into a pro your side in combat move and take ownership the IPC’s are yours, where if you come in non combat the tt remains pro your side (you only occupy it) and don’t get the IPC’s. There may be some reason that you may only want to occupy a tt (avoid some kind of consequence, like others turn on you).

There will be certain countries that have been traditionally neutral like Turkey, Saudi, Spain, Sweden, maybe Switz, parts of S America etc. Either side will have to fight there way in like you do with Mongolia for these true neutrals. I could see certain countries having alliances, that if they are attacked others will join the other side like in S America. I hope there is no link between say Spain and Turkey, and if there is you can avoid it with political pressure in the individual regions. Like say you have Turkey surrounded, and attack them it keeps Spain out. I would not like a rule that says attack one true neutral and all the others join your enemy (but it could happen). If Germany/Italy attack Turkey to open up the Black sea (to invade the Caucasus) allows the US to start putting troops on Spain that would not be cool. The axis would have to invade both at the same time to watch their back. If an attack on Turkey brought the Saudi’s to the other side or vise versa, that I could live with, at least they’re in the same region. I don’t know if they actually had a political alliance though.

Maybe NO’s will dictate if/when you can invade a true neutral (w/o consequences). If you have say a Middle East NO (control of Persia, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Egypt) you can invade Saudi or Turkey (Turkey may also include another NO w/Balkans making it more difficult). If you achieve an NO with the Scandinavian tt you can now invade Sweden Etc. Control the region (NO) gain access to true neutrals. I know its a stretch, and NO’s most likely won’t have any effect on neutrals, but it was worth mentioning.